4:43 p.m.: Toscano writes that the Braves expect Albies to return sometime this season.
2:43 p.m.: ozzie Albies recently had surgery to repair the fracture in his left foot, tweets Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It’s not clear what impact, if any, the procedure will have on his recovery timeline. In any case, Albies won’t be back until mid-August after being put on the 60-day injured list yesterday.
Albies broke his foot in the win over the Nationals on Monday night. He stumbled out of the batter’s box after hitting a ground ball and the club announced the fracture diagnosis within an hour of leaving the game. Atlanta wasted no time by putting him on the 60-day IL the next morning and selecting Utilityman Phil Gosselin to take his roster spot. Orlando Arkia will be the club’s primary second baseman for the foreseeable future.
Albies, a two-time All-Star, got off to a slow start this year, posting a personal worst .244/.289/.405 line in 263 trips to the record. Arcia has hit well in 18 games this season, but he’s a career hitter of .245/.296/.368 at the major league level. The Braves will presumably want to see if he can even come close to matching the .327/.393/.519 pace this season, but it seems likely that the club will at least look at possible acquisitions before the August 2 trading deadline – particularly at Arcia Bat cools down next month.
The Braves have won 13 straight and moved within five games of the NL East-leading Mets coming into play on Wednesday. At 36-27, Atlanta currently sits third and last wild card in the National League and has a two-game lead over the Brewers.